Pygmalion
by livromaniaque
Summary: Melanie, Jared and Jaime are looking for the perfect body for Wanda. It might be easier to sculpt one from marble! One-shot, from Mel's POV. Please read and review.


_AN: In honor of almost 1000 hit on my first story, here's a new one. Thanks to _kimmitwilight, , Besanii-Chan, This-Does-Not-Concern-You, Twilighteuphoria27, Jynxiii, Moxie Michelle Cullen, SarahJP, silverdroplet, RedHann, , laurenemque, starks girl 2010, DaMpiRka, dodgydolphin181, KeeperOfTheSecret, LHNgrl22, loren1989, Marie Cullen 12, MissMusic443, Modo-chan, Panflute owl, rainandangels05, SoAdorkable, SunshineGirl177, Tavitha, TheAweOfTheBeautifullyBroken, Twilighternproud and Zarianna _who either reviewed "the first night" or marked it as a favorite (or both, in some cases). Hope this one does as well (maybe better? fingers crossed.)_

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Host. Stephenie Meyer does. I just get to enjoy it, and play with it a little.**

My dad wasn't as crazy as his siblings were. But that doesn't mean that he wasn't a little bit eccentric. It goes with the Stryder genes. Instead of telling Jaime and I fairy tales, he would tell us stories from the Greek mythology. My mother protested, saying those storied had too much sex and violence. That's one of the few fights I can remember them having. They must have reached some sort of compromise, because for all the rest of his life, he was all about mythology.

The stories weren't so terrible. Mom must have imposed some sort of veto. Most of those stories were actually really nice. There was one that I couldn't get enough of: the story of Pygmalion. He was a sculptor, and a made a statue of a woman that was so beautiful and so perfect he fell in love with it. He secretly wished that the statue was a real woman, so that they could love each other. Aphrodite, goddess of love, learned of his wish and made it come true. The statue came to life, and they lived happily ever after.

Remembering the story, and my parents, helped improve my mood a little. A very little. We could use Pygmalion here right now. We could have helped each other nicely. He had a perfect body that needed a soul. We have a perfect soul that needs a body.

Jared, Jamie and I left the caves two weeks ago to look for a body for Wanda. We didn't really have a plan; we just drove from town to town, looking at thousands of bodies, hoping to find the right one. We had crossed Arizona and California with no results. We just couldn't agree. By we, I mean Jamie and I. By couldn't agree, I mean Jamie had turned down every one of my suggestions. Jared refused to be implicated. "Finding the body is yours and Jamie's job. My job is figuring out a way to get it, and us, back to the cave safely."

We were now crossing the border to Oregon, and I was running out of patience with both of them. Jared was my boyfriend; the least he could do was take my side! And Jamie didn't make any suggestions, or said anything helpful. He was just growing more and more sullen. He hasn't spoken one word since yesterday. Being completely honest myself, I have to admit that I'm keeping myself is a frustrated mood because I didn't want to be too worried.

"Why don't you pick in the next town, Jamie?" I asked as we were pulling off in a secluded place in the wilderness, to spend the night.

"You're just gonna say no," he answered. I'm pretty sure that's what he said, he was mumbling.

"Why? Because you said no to all my suggestions? What was that about anyway?"

"They all looked like you."

Wait. What?

"What?"

"You know, tall brunettes, tanned. They looked like you."

Silence. Crickets chirping. Blood pounding in my ears. They all look like me? That's the reason he's been rejecting all my choices? We could have been back days ago. Wanda could be back to us even now. And we're being held up because my brother doesn't want Wanda to look like me? What's wrong with the way I look anyway!

Jamie was still putting his things away, either not realising the implications of what he just said or not caring. Jared was standing very still, as if he was figuring out a way to diffuse the situation. His senses were better honed, and he knew that in my current mood, I was the most dangerous thing around.

"Mel ..." Jared said softly. I ignored him.

"Is there a problem with the way I look, Jamie?"

I was trying to keep a calm voice, to not let my anger show, at least not yet. But something must have shown through. Jamie froze, and he looked at me with increasing nerves.

"Mel... I didn't mean ... You know you're good looking, right? I mean, not that I look at you like that, you're my sister, but... I mean ... I had a picture in my head, of what Wanda's body should look like, you know, to be 'Wanda'. But then, all the girls you picked looked like you, so ..."

I was calmed, marginally, by his explanation. "Jamie, Wanda and I shared the same body for a year. We would both look out a mirror and see the same face. Of course, my first reflex is to look for bodies that look like me. If you have another idea, you have to speak up!"

Jamie hung his head in shame, and all my anger melted away. Another minute passed in silence before Jared spoke. "Okay, so Jamie gets first pick tomorrow. That way, you can show us what you mean about a 'Wanda' body. It's getting late. You two turn in, I'll take first watch."

Jamie and I settled down.

"I'm sorry I jumped down your throat like that."

"I'm sorry I didn't speak up sooner. It's just, Wanda isn't you. We should be looking at people that look different from you. That way, when Wanda comes back, people won't confuse the two of you."

"That's a good idea. You can show us what you mean you mean tomorrow. Let's get some sleep."

And we did.

* * *

The next morning, we were taking a walk in the park. We caught a lucky break, it was sunny out, and we could cover our eyes with sunglasses. Add the scars that Doc gave us, and we blended seamlessly.

The boys were nervous at the idea of walking among a group of souls, in the daylight. I was a bit nervous as well, but I remembered Wanda's words to Jared. "They are not suspicious at all. Even you could do it." I also remembered that Sharon had been doing the same thing in Chicago; that was how I saw her on TV. We calmly walked up to a cart and got some ice cream cones, then sat on a bench. A normal family enjoying a nice day out.

After a few minutes, Jamie nudged me in what we both hope was an imperceptible-to-anyone-else movement.

"Yeah?" I asked softly.

"Pink t-shirt at 10 o'clock."

I couldn't figure out who he was talking about at first. Even when I saw the pink t-shirt, I couldn't believe that he was actually talking about that girl. Not THAT girl!

"That's what you think Wanda looks like?" I asked. He answered with a nod.

"Okay," I said slowly, trying not to let any opinion show. "Why?"

"Well..." He was hesitating, his cheek suddenly tinted with pink. What could he have to be embarrassed about? Now I was nervous. "Do you remember those calendars that Mom used to buy? With the angels? They all kind of looked the same, you know, with round faces and blond hair and stuff. That's what I think we should get for Wanda. She should look like an angel, because she's as good as an angel."

I was surprised that Jamie remembered even that much about mom. He was so young when she was taken, when our family fell apart and we were forced to run away from our own father.

He dropped his eyes to the ground. "It sounds really stupid when I say it out loud like that."

I took his chin and tilted it until he was facing me again. "It sounds really sweet. Wanda would love to know that's how you see her. And it's a good idea. I like it."

"But you don't like that girl." It wasn't a question.

Jared spoke up before I could."Looks like it's going to rain. Time to go home."

We all looked up to see the dark clouds closing in on us, about to blow our cover, and concurred.

* * *

"You didn't like the girl in the park," Jamie repeated, once we were back in the car. We sat together in the back seat, with Jared driving.

"Jamie, that girl was eight years old, at most. She was too young."

"But didn't Wanda say that if the person was inserted when they were young, they would be gone?"

"It was more a question of percentages. The longer the body's been occupied be a soul, versus a human mind, and like that. Plus, don't you think it's unfair to Ian, to give him Wanda back in a body too young for him to date?"

"O'Shea can put his hormones on hold for a while," Jared mumbled. Now he talks! And to argue that we should be taking a little kid away from her parents.

"One, you're not supposed to comment. Two, ten years of wait, that's just harsh. Three, Wanda knew that assimilating a child would be easier, and she asked for an adult from day one. And four, you tell me, Mr. My-job-is-to-get-us-out-of-here-safely; How are we supposed to take an eight years old away from her family without anybody making a scene? No one is that trusting, not even souls."

Jared grudgingly admitted that I had a point. Jamie had more questions, though. "I thought the point was to find a body Wanda could live in alone. If we don't use a young body, how are we going to do that?"

"I think the trick is percentages, like I said. For example, I'm 21, Wanda was inside me for one year, so that's ..." I did the math as quickly as I could in my head. "Maybe 4% of my life under soul occupation? Which I think is part of the reason I didn't disappear. If we take, say, a 18 years old who was inserted when she was 8, that's what, 55%, something like that? The bigger the percentage, the more chance that the original mind is gone. Plus, there was no resistance when the souls first arrived. So if we find a girl who was a kid when she was inserted the first time around ten years ago, we're home free."

While both of my men saw the logic of my reasoning, they still both had reservations. Jared spoke up again. "How are we supposed to know when a body was inserted?"

"I think we stick to the big cities. The invasion started there, and souls tend to stick to the place where they were inserted."

"Wanda didn't," Jamie pointed out. "She was inserted in Chicago, and she moved to California."

"That's cause I am from California, Jamie. She was going back to my roots." Which is something I didn't appreciate at the time. I guess I couldn't. I can justify that my harsh reactions toward Wanda was survival instinct, but I still regret it.

"So," Jared said. "We go to big cities; we look for a girl in her late teens, with blond curly hair and angelic features, who was inserted many years ago. Anything else?"

"If we can, we should make sure that the body doesn't have a partner. We don't know how much the souls takes from the body, and how much it leaves in the body."

"Like Wanda said at the tribunal? I didn't think that she was serious."

Before I could answer to Jared, Jamie spoke up. "What tribunal?"

I hesitated briefly. The reason we hadn't told Jamie about the tribunal was that we didn't want to upset him with the news that Wanda was leaving. That didn't really apply anymore.

"When Ian learned that Wanda was planning to leave, he organised a tribunal, to try and convince her to stay. 'It's for the good of the community' and all that, you know. During the tribunal, Jared suggested that we get Wanda a new body. She said no, and one of the reasons she gave was that the body might have another family, with the souls, and that Wanda would become a danger."

Jamie's expression grew darker, sadder. I quickly embraced him. "She didn't mean it, Jamie. She was just using whatever excuse she could to win the tribunal. She would never betray us. I didn't say that because I thought she was right. I just thought 'why take the chance, let's make this as easy as possible', you know?" I was answering Jared now as well.

"I know," Jamie said. "It's not that. It's just ... Sometimes I forget that we're doing something Wanda didn't want us to do. She didn't want a new body, didn't want to be a parasite."

"She didn't want to leave us, either. I told you before, it's just that there wasn't enough room for both of us to share one body. Once we get her a body of her own, she'll be happy to be with us. She loves us."

Jamie nodded. We held each other in silence. It was Jared, once again, who broke the silence.

"Okay, sounds like we have a plan. We stay around the city for a while, do a little recog. We would need the time to plan how to take the body anyway. Next stop, Portland, I guess."

Portland? Maybe not such a good idea. "Hum, how about Seattle, instead?"

"Why?" Jared asked suspiciously.

"It's bigger?" I answered innocently.

"Mel..."

"The O'Sheas are from Portland. What if we grab a relative? That would be awkward."

"Really, Mel, what are the odds that the blond girl we grab in Portland turns out to be the long lost sister of the black-haired O'Sheas, that they never mentioned?"

"Just because they didn't mention a sister, doesn't mean that they don't have one. How many times did you guys hear 'I didn't even know Jeb had a sister' when you first got to the caves with Sharon and Maggie?" I wasn't there at the time, of course, but Jared's eye roll confirmed my guess. They heard it a lot. "And it doesn't have to be a sister. The situation would be just as awkward if we brought back a cousin."

Jared might have been wondering why I was making so many concessions for Ian. I guess I wasn't sure. The best answer I could come up with was that I wanted both of them to get their happy ending, as quickly as possible.

"All right," he finally agreed. "Seattle, then going east if that doesn't pan out. Let's see how much road we can cover before we have to crash for the night."

* * *

We didn't need to go east, as it turned out. We found exactly what we were looking for in Seattle, the next afternoon.

"There! Her!" Jaime excitedly pointed out to us from the car. We didn't take the chance to walk among the souls today; the cloudy cover made us nervous. Our eyes wouldn't betray us without direct sunlight, but all it took was one sunny ray and we were done for. Of course, crawling around the city in a car wasn't exactly conspicuous, but at least we had the excuse of the traffic and the speed limits.

"That's exactly what I had in mind," he continued. And I had to agree with him. The girl was the personification of a Botticelli angel; long curly blond hair, small delicate features, big eyes. I couldn't tell the exact color from a distance, but they were pale, blue or green or maybe even grey. She looked young, around sixteen years old. Jared was right, O'Shea could put his hormones on hold for a couple of years.

There was just one thing, and it was such a small thing, I didn't even want to bring it up. It felt like nitpicking. So I didn't bring it up. "She looks great, Jamie," I said instead. "We still have to do the recog, though. Right?"

"Right," Jared answered. "We follow her home, we find some place nearby and observe for a few days. Time enough to make sure she doesn't have a boyfriend, and to come up with a plan. What's on your mind, Mel?"

Damn, the man knows me too well. "Do you see her working in the caves?"

"What?" Jared asked.

"I'm picking at nits, I know. It's just that Wanda will feel the need to work, to be productive in the caves, you know, do her share. More than her share if she can. I don't think that this body is much of a workhorse."

"Wanda can toughen it up," Jared answered without hesitation. "Paige isn't that much bigger, and she does her share, no problem."

"I think it's good that the body isn't that big and strong," Jamie piped in. "Wanda works harder and longer than anybody else, never taking a break. It's like she doesn't know when to stop. The body is a way to impose a limit on her."

"Besides," Jared added, "she'll still be doing raids. The body won't be a problem there. In fact, it might be an advantage."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, look at her. She looks so innocent. Her face is open, honest. She's impossible to distrust. No one would ever suspect her of being up to no good. So guileless that you'd give her the moon if she said pretty please. It's the perfect front."

They both had good points. Wanda could use some limitations, and having a body especially made for raids would take away from the edge of not being able to do the physical work.

I looked at the little girl again. If the recog went well, this could be Wanda. My best friend. My sister. My little sister, it would seem.

I could live with that.

"We'll see."

Five days later, after the recog confirmed that the soul, Pet, had lived in Seattle for nine years, that she had no partner and lived alone with her "mother", after we perfectly carried out the plan thought up by Jared, we were on our way back to the caves, with Jamie watching over the unconscious body. His job was to make sure she didn't wake up.

Tomorrow, we would reach the caves and extract Pet. A week from now, if everything goes well (and it WILL), we'll have Wanda back with us. Our perfect soul in her perfect new pre-owned body.

Pygmalion, eat your heart out.


End file.
